DURANT OUT FOR GAME 2 OF NBA FINALS
TORONTO — Just like they have had to do for the previous six playoff games, the Golden State Warriors will play the Toronto Raptors in Game 2 of the NBA Finals on Sunday lacking one central star player.
They will be without Kevin Durant. “Kevin is not going to play Sunday,” Warriors coach Steve Kerr said on Friday. “We have been sort of holding out hope, but I might as well just say it now. He’s not practicing today. We’ll have a practice tomorrow. But he’s still progressing. It’s near impossible for him to play on Sunday.”
The reason? Durant has not yet completed a full practice since straining his right calf against Houston in Game 5 of the Western Conference semifinals on May 8. In the past week, Durant has completed individual oncourt drills. He has yet to compete in a full-court, contact scrimmage, though, something that Kerr had said was “a long shot” on Saturday. On Friday, Durant was with Warriors assistant coach Bruce Fraser to complete individual drills.
Kerr said that Durant has “done well with his rehab” in the last couple of days, yet it remains unclear when he will complete a full practice. Some possibilities could include on Tuesday in hopes to return for Game 3 in Oakland on Wednesday. Or perhaps Thursday to accommodate a return for Game 4 on Friday.
Regardless, Kerr said that Durant’s expected return will not hinge on if the Warriors can rectify their Game 1 loss.
“It’s not my thinking. It’s not our thinking. The thinking is when he’s ready to play, he’ll play,” Kerr said. “It’s not like this is a sore ankle or his knee is sore, whatever, and you can play through it. This is a tricky one. If you re-injure the calf, then that’s it and then he’s done for the series. So when he’s ready to play, he’ll play.”
And when Durant plays, the Warriors expect him to replicate the same workload when he averaged a leagueleading 34.2 points per game. Kerr
said that Dr. Rick Celebrini, the Warriors’ director of sports medicine and performance, will not outline a restricted role because that would mean he’s not fully healthy.
“When he’s ready to play, we’re going to play him. Maybe it will be a minutes issue based on his conditioning for not having played in a month or whatever it is, but we’ll just have to wait and see,” Kerr said of Durant, who has averaged 39.1 minutes in the playoffs. “Once he’s ready to play, he’ll play.
Then, Rick and I will discuss what a plan would be in terms of how many minutes and all that stuff.”
Despite his absence, Durant still traveled with the team to Toronto for a few reasons. So Durant could rehab with the Warriors’ training staff. So Durant could sit in on meetings and film sessions. So Durant could be with the team behind the scenes.
“You can see him inching closer back to the team. I think so much has been made of Kevin because of what lies ahead for him — ‘Oh, he’s not with the team, he’s not around, he’s not a part of it,’” said Draymond Green.